Specifics About Transparency, Privacy, and Free Expression Online

Emma Llansó, of the Center for Democracy & Technology, and Susan Morgan, of the Global Network Initiative, have argued that it’s time to do more than just call for transparency into how often telecommunications companies disclose information to state agencies. Governments should also, “make publicly available the laws and legal interpretations authorizing electronic surveillance or content removal, as well as report the aggregate numbers of requests, and the number of users impacted by these requests.” Ideally governmental reports could be contrasted against corporate disclosures to help the public understand the extent of telecommunications surveillance as well as to “dispel myths about surveillance or content removal.”